From British Champion to British Citizen? The Legal Barriers Facing Bilal Fawaz
Bilal Fawaz defeated Ishamel Davis on 21 February to become the British and Commonwealth super-welterweight champion, having already held the English super-welterweight belt since 31 January 2025 after defeating Junaid Bostan. Despite his success in the ring under the British flag, Bilal is not a British citizen despite his resilient efforts over the last two decades and his direct plea to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. In this article, we will look at Bilal’s potential route to British citizenship, and how he may be able to secure a British passport.
Current immigration position
Bilal was born in Nigeria to a Beninese mother and a Lebanese father, before being trafficked to London at the age of 14. After he was able to escape his captivity, Bilal entered the care system in the UK. Bilal was eventually granted temporary leave to remain until just before he turned 18, but attempts to extend his permission to stay were not successful, and he was left without valid immigration status in the UK.
As he did not have permission to be in the UK, and had a previous criminal record for minor offences, the Home Office sought to deport him to Nigeria in 2017, and placed him in a detention centre. Bilal was eventually released after a tribunal judge ruled that the Home Office had no lawful grounds to detain him, before he was finally granted stay in the UK in June 2020.
A key element of Bilal’s complicated immigration history is that he is effectively stateless – the Nigerian embassy have stated on repeated occasions that he is not a Nigerian national; the Lebanese embassy do not have his records and his father has now passed, leaving him with no options to register as a Lebanese national; and, he is not recognised as a Beninese national as he was not born there.
With no passport, Bilal is unable to leave the UK, placing a glass ceiling on his flourishing career. The Home Office have placed him on a 10-year route to settlement, where he can potentially obtain his British passport in 2034 or 2035. However, the Home Office’s earned settlement proposals include the closure of the Long Residence route that Bilal currently finds himself on, throwing his immigration status in the UK into further disarray.
As Bilal looks to continue his career at the top of boxing, a British passport could provide him with the opportunity to secure lucrative fights in locations like Saudi Arabia and Las Vegas that are currently closed to him due to his immigration status.
Available options
Registration as a British citizen
As Bilal does not currently hold Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, he would not currently be able to naturalise under the traditional route provided by section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 (“BNA 1981”). Section 4L of the BNA 1981 provides that an individual can be registered as a British citizen under ‘special circumstances’, where in the Secretary of State’s opinion the applicant would have been, or would have been able to become a British citizen but for:
- Historic legislative unfairness,
- An act or omission of a public authority, or
- Exceptional circumstances relating to the applicant
As Bilal’s parents are Beninese and Lebanese, the only viable option would be relating to exceptional circumstances. However, Home Office guidance provides that ‘you will not normally qualify if you are applying under this section just because you do not meet the requirements for other routes’, where the applicant’s inability to become a British citizen must be a result of their exceptional circumstances under another route. As a result, it is unlikely that Bilal can be granted British citizenship immediately.
In order for Bilal to become a British citizen as quickly as possible, it would therefore require him first gaining Indefinite Leave to Remain before submitting an application to naturalise as a British citizen.
Discretionary application
Although Bilal is not yet eligible to become a British citizen, there is a potential pathway for him to be granted indefinite leave to remain at this stage, as the Secretary of State retains a discretionary power to grant leave to remain outside the Immigration Rules, and this discretion can extend to granting indefinite leave to remain.
While the threshold for the Secretary of State to exercise this discretion is high, we have experience supporting clients whose circumstances do not align perfectly with the Immigration Rules but who can demonstrate exceptional factors supported by strong, comprehensive evidence. In such cases, applications can and do succeed.
In Bilal’s situation, there are clearly compelling circumstances. He is a British, English, and Commonwealth super-welterweight champion who has lived in the UK for over twenty years, has represented his country at the highest level, and is raising two British children with his long-term British partner. These factors contribute to a strong and exceptional case. As Eddie Hearn remarked following Bilal’s victory on Saturday, this is the type of individual who should be granted permanent status in the UK.
If Bilal was granted indefinite leave to remain, he could potentially apply for British citizenship thereafter, also on a discretionary basis. This would therefore enable him to become a British citizen as quickly as possible, and represent the nation on a global stage.
Conclusion
Bilal’s pathway to British citizenship is complex, but with a detailed and informed approach to the Immigration Rules, there is a genuine possibility of achieving this outcome. Irwin Mitchell’s Immigration Team, led by Mandeep Khroud, offers the specialist expertise needed to explore every available option for remaining in the UK and ensures that no stone is left unturned in cases such as Bilal’s.
